Matt & Jess 5280

Drink Party - "The Dirty Monkey"

2009-08-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Dirty Monkey (Tropical Umbrella Drink)

History:
Dirty Monkey was first coined by "Jessica Meyers" as a request for a special drink poolside on the island of Maui. Dirty Monkey is a relative of Tropical Monkey and almost a clone. Dirty Monkey has the sides of the glass drizzles with chocolate syrup and with an umbrella in it. (Optional - Frozen Chocolate Banana can be added)

Ingredients:
0.5 Banana
0.5 oz Chocolate Syrup
0.5 oz Irish Cream
0.5 oz Dark Rum
0.5 oz Congac
1.5 Scoop Ice Cream
1.5 cup Crushed Ice

Serving Size: 12 Ounces

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a blender on high for 20 to 30 seconds. Pour into a deep wide glass, drizzle choclate syrup on the inside of the glass and garnish with a Frozen Chocolate Banana and an umbrella. This drink is a marvelous concoction that will leave you wanting more.

Jess and I were invited to the Gentry's Drink Party and I had to fly solo since Jess was working. Our concoction ended up receiving the "Classic Cocktail" Award. Go Dirty Monkey!

Maui HI - Babymoon

2009-08-31T21:49:00.001-07:00

Arriving in Maui!

Hiking South of Kahakuloa

Royal Ka'anapali Golf Course

Houston we have a problem..

2009-03-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

Matt had the opportunity to travel to the Houston Space Station last week for the shuttle launch. Unfortunately the launch was scrapped. Matt did however get a tour of the control room.

I took Bella for a walk

2009-03-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

rather she "took" me

Michigan Weekend

2009-03-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Matt and I traveled home to Michigan to visit my Family and friends. I was able to attend Brooke's Michigan bridal shower and then we were all able to go out for Angela's "21st" birthday:) Saturday Night. It was a short and sweet trip home!

I have been a terrible blogger:)

2009-02-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

WOW its been a long time. We have been very busy and our lives have been full of transitions. We have also been traveling a ton. Here are some pics from last weekend.

While I lived in up in Chicago for Brooke's bridal shower w/my oldest and dearest friends -- Matt was living it up skiing in the mountains w/ our neighbor Brian.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-13T20:41:00.001-08:00

We have been busy enjoying the Christmas season around here - today we finally decorated the tree:)

First Snow in Denver

2008-11-14T09:07:00.000-08:00

This morning marked the first Snow for Denver this winter 2008-2009!

Paris 2008

2008-10-29T19:51:00.000-07:00

Click on the picture below for a Slideshow of our trip to Paris

Wash Park Fire Station Pancake Breakfast

2008-09-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning our neighborhood fire Station had an open house / pancake breakfast. We had a lot of fun

Aspen

2008-09-11T17:15:00.000-07:00

Matt and I escaped to beautiful Aspen last weekend.

Anniversary

2008-08-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Tuesday evening - August 19th - Matt and I celebrated two years of marriage. Its been quite an adventure so far:)!

New Nephew

2008-08-20T22:51:00.000-07:00

Jess and I are Aunts and Uncles Again! See Picture Link.

Michigan

2008-08-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Matt and I spent the last several days Michigan at my parents house. Matt was able to go to the PGA Championship that was held at Oakland Hills Country Club (located one mile from my parents house) last week.. The weekend was spent exploring all that Detroit has to offer w/ my Uncle Jay. We had a good time

Lake

2008-08-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

We have had the privilege to spend two days this summer on one of the few Colorado lakes - water skiing and wake boarding w/ Matt's relatives - so fun.

Home

2008-08-03T19:38:00.001-07:00

Promised house pictures - enjoy!

Moving In

2008-07-30T22:19:00.000-07:00

Jess and I moved in last Sunday. We are exhausted but still working hard everyday. I will post pictures once we settle in more.

Boulder Hike #2

2008-07-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Over the fourth of July weekend Matt and I once again headed to Boulder and hiked Bear's Peak. It was strenuous and very hot outside but we had a really great day together.

Boulder Hike #1

2008-07-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my old roomate and dear friend Juliet came to visit for the weekend. We had a great time and spent Saturday in Boulder enjoying a beautiful hike.

Purchased Our First House

2008-06-26T20:24:00.001-07:00

Jess and I purchased our First House this week. I posted pictures of the house, just click on the picture below or click of the link that says "First House".

Our move in date is July 16th and we will keep the blog updated as we settle in.

Much Much to do!

We are still here...

2008-06-22T20:46:00.000-07:00

sorry for the lack of updates this month....life has felt busy. Jess spent a week in Las Vegas for work and Matt has just been working like crazy. We close on the house on June 25th - more pictures to come:)

In Contract for Our First House

2008-05-28T21:11:00.000-07:00

If all goes as planned...

Here's to the next 30 years!

Colfax Half Marathon & Asian Hope

2008-05-20T19:51:00.001-07:00

Last weekend Jess ran in the Colfax Half Marathon to support Asian Hope! Asian hope is a charity that sponsors Cambodian Students with scholerships to college. This year the charity has raised enough money to send 2 students to college and Jess was a part of this! Go Jess!

Jess stopping for me to take a picture!

Jess sprinting towards the finish line!

Jess Posing!

California

2008-05-14T18:36:00.001-07:00

We had a great visit to LA last weekend. We crammed sooo much into a few short days but loved getting a small chance to reconnect w/ family and dear friends. We also loved spending tine at the ocean. The purpose of the trip was to attend our brother-in-law's graduation from graduate school. Matt has all the pictures from that event on his camera (to be posted later). Here are a few pictures from our whirlwind weekend.

Michigan

2008-05-12T19:33:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I was able to fly home to Michigan and surprise my grandma on her birthday and see my oldest friends. It was fun to be the only child for a weekend and get my parents all to myself as well:) Such a fun weekend.

Kentucky Derby

2008-05-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

"BIG BROWN WINS THE 134th KENTUCKY DERBY!"
For over 50 years my mom's side of the family has a tradition to place bets on the Kentucky Derby. This year Matt got first pick and picked the WINNER - Big Brown. Everyone in the family is now obligated to send Matt 10$ - even me:)

Cherry Creek Sneak

2008-04-27T21:03:00.001-07:00

Jess participated in the 26th Annual Cherry Creek Sneak.

Good Bye Friends

2008-04-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Matt and I spent Saturday helping our dear friends: Brett and Katelyn pack up their U-Haul and send them off as they move three hours away to southern Colorado....We will miss them very much, however we know our friendship will remain close as we have all been friends for the past five years in many different geographic locations:)

Closing Weekend

2008-04-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

Matt and I got away last weekend and enjoyed two full days of skiing during closing weekend....sunny skies, soft snow, and a hot tub...we did not want to come home!

CSU

2008-04-07T16:43:00.000-07:00

My parents were in town for the weekend. We had a great time. Saturday was spent at Colorado State University --- where my dad went to graduate school in the 70s.

Things haven't changed much!

Concerts

2008-04-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

This past week was a week of concerts-
1. Monday 3/31/08 I had free tickets to BON JOVI at the Pepsi Center in Denver. My friend Andrea and I enjoyed an INCREDIBLE show and agreed that he is truly a ROCKSTAR!

2. Wednesday 4/2/08 I got to see Bob Schneider for the second time at the Bluebird Theater in Denver w/ my dear friend Suzanne. Again he put on a rockin' show!

I love live music!

Nuggets Game

2008-04-02T19:19:00.001-07:00

My boss gave me his Nuggets tickets for a great game last week.

Nuggets vs. Mavricks

The Nuggets WON!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all of you from us!

Easter brought a beautiful Spring Day to Denver! We spent the day w/ some of Matt's relatives and his parents who were in town for a visit.

St. Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T19:22:00.000-07:00

Every year we make big plans to go out and drink green beer at an Irish Pub on St. Patty's day and it never seems to happen. Well this year was no exception. We didn't sleep well last night and our friends were sick so our plans fell through. We opted to just stay home. Matt went out to rent a movie and returned w/ ingredients to make our own green beer - We had a fun celebration at home.

Romp to Stomp out Breast Cancer

2008-03-09T20:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday, my cousin Jenny, Matt & I got up before dawn and headed back up to the mountains for a great event -a 5k snowshoe walk to benefit breast cancer. There was a lot of pink and a lot of women. Matt's favorite part was the free pancake breakfast:)

We had a great time!

Lunch Date

2008-03-08T19:38:00.000-08:00

Matt has every other friday off...I do not. Matt came up to the hospital and we had a great lunch date yesterday at my favorite bagel shop.

A Good Day

2008-03-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL in Denver - the warmest day of winter so far. The high was 75 degrees and the entire city was outside....mostly at the park two blocks from our house. We got up early and headed to the high country for a beautiful morning of skiing at Beaver Creek:

by 10am we were famished and so warm -- so we enjoyed some gelato:

We arrived back in Denver at 4pm and were on our bikes by 415pm and headed over to the park where we ran into many of the people we know in Denver and just enjoyed being in t-shirts and shorts!

We woke up to snow on Sunday morning:)

Denver Restaurant Week

2008-02-25T21:20:00.000-08:00

Denver Restaurant Week is a 7 day celebration of the culinary scene in Denver. Participating restaaurants offer a multi-course meal for the fixed price of $52.80 for two - Denver is located at 5280 feet elevation - just in case you didn't get it:)

**Such a good deal!! I tried it out w/ a girlfriend tonight @ the Cru Wine Bar. Later this week Matt and I are going to this place by our house called North that we have been eyeing for months!

VAIL

2008-02-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

Matt and I have had a busy month and its hard to believe February is almost over. We had a great weekend in Vail courtesy of my Uncle Jay who was there for a conference. We drove up Saturday afternoon and spent the evening w/my uncle and his friends and then skied all day Sunday. Jay had to return to California for work a day early so he gave us his room at a very nice ski-in / ski-out resort in Vail for Sunday night. It was a great surprise get away:) Check out the view from our window:

Weekend Away

2008-02-12T20:36:00.000-08:00

Matt and I experienced some much needed rest and relaxation away this past weekend. We left Denver early Saturday morning and beat the rush. We were on the lifts at Beaver Creek by 9am. We skiied hard all day and then drove to Keystone where we stayed at the "Keystone Lodge" and enjoyed a great steak dinner and good conversation. We skied at Keystone all day Sunday and could hardly walk by the time we were done that evening. We didn't realize until we got away how much we needed that time to reconnect and just hang out together. Since moving to Denver we have focused so much on meeting new people we sometimes have neglected our relationship. We are so greatful for a great weekend. Check out the pictures on the sidebar!

Snowshoeing

2008-02-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went up to the mountains w/my good friend Suzanne and her friend Megan from out of town for a girls weekend that included a three hour guided snowshoe tour through the backcountry near Brekenridge. It was very beautiful, peaceful, and a lot of fun.

Matt remained in Denver and went out w/the boys. He was the undefeated champion of all bar games!:)

Sushi

2008-01-30T21:51:00.000-08:00

Matt & I had a great time w/our friends Adam & Ava making sushi last night. It tasted great and was so much fun. The secret is in the rice...

Jeep

2008-01-23T19:41:00.000-08:00

After months of debate and discussion. We took the plunge and leased a new car for Matt. As much as we loved his 10 year old Jeep Wrangler w/ 150 thousand miles on it and no passenger side heat – we needed a safe snow car!

After 6 hours of negotiations at the “no haggle” car dealership and almost walking out the door we got them down to our bottom line price. Despite the fact we were told over and over again that it would not be possible and they were putting everything out there and blah blah blah blah…We made a good team and played these guys well because in the end at 11:15pm we got everything we wanted. Buying a car is a funny experience and in Colorado its illegal on Sundays – probably because its about the shadiest / sketchiest business there is☺

Back to the Mountains

2008-01-13T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know it may seem as though all we do these days is head to the mountains and ski....and while that is true to an extent, we are also truly enjoying our life in Denver as well. I have started working full-time and while that is an adjustment, I am enjoying what I am doing and the people I work with. We are meeting new people all the time and feeling more at home in our neighborhood.

Matt got a jump start on the weekend by heading to Vail on Friday with his co-workers (they get every other Friday off) and he snowboarded all day in waist deep powder.

Saturday Matt and I drove back up to Keystone for another day of great skiing. The mountain is open for night skiing until 9 pm so we skied until we thought our faces were literally going to fall off:)

Helmets

2008-01-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Matt and I bought each other helmets for Christmas!

Brooke (one of my oldest friends) came to town from Chicago for the weekend. We had so much fun in the mountains.

2007

2007-12-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

New Years is not our favorite holiday as it always seems anti-climatic. However this year we spent some time reflecting this past year as it has been both significant and full. RECAP: We traveled to New York, New Jersey, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Michigan & California. Jess graduated graduate school from UCLA and became a certified pediatric nurse practitioner. We celebrated our first wedding anniversary. We said goodbye to the last decade of our lives in California and moved to Denver, CO. We both started new jobs. We have both made new friends and are truly happy in the life we are creating in Denver. Everyday we recognize the good things in our lives and do not take any of them for granted. 2007 was also a year of incredible heartache and stress. We attended the funerals of both of Jess's grandparents, Matt's grandpa had a stroke, Matt had his own health scare this summer, Jess experienced more stress than she had ever known finishing up grad school and driving over 500 miles a week, & we learned marriage is hard. However the experiences of this past year taught us the resilience of the human sole and the fragility of everyday. We enter 2008 with a stronger bond and a greater love than we had a year ago. Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T05:56:00.000-08:00

Its hard to believe its Christmas eve. December was a busy and full month for us in Colorado that truly flew by. We flew to Michigan last week for Christmas with the Jehle's and are having a good time. Dinner parties, seeing old friends, sporting events ect..

We want to wish each one of you a very happy holiday: where ever you are and however you celebrate. One of my favorite things about this season is holiday cards. Thank you all for thinking of us and giving us a glimpse into you lives. We live far away from many of you now and we miss you. May your holiday season and all of 2008 be filled with joy and love.
All our best, Matt & Jess

Steamboat Springs

2007-12-10T18:32:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-03T21:38:00.001-08:00

Click Here

Christmas in Colorado

2007-12-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

The tree is trimmed and the stockings are hung....I should probably start my Christmas shopping!!:) Check out the pictures on the right "Christmas in Colorado"

Breckenridge

2007-11-30T20:53:00.000-08:00

Matt and I enjoyed our friday off up in the mountains. We woke up at 645am and were on the slopes by 9am. It was a great day of skiing and just hanging out together. Check out the pics on the right!

Thanksgiving in Cali

2007-11-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Our trip to California for Thanksgiving was a whirlwind. We braved the busiest travel night of the year and flew out Wed night. Our original flight was cancelled but luckily we were put on an earlier flight. We drove straight to Matt's grandparents house in Lancaster (an hour north of Los Angeles). The entire Meyers side of the family was present for thanksgiving (35 people). The house was filled with kids, legos, food, football, a new big screen HD TV (group Christmas present to Grandma Shirley & Grandpa Roy). Matt's cousin Kellie is pregnant with her third child so all the ladies gathered in the afternoon and threw her a baby shower. We played the game, "guess the candy bar in the diaper".... good times!

We drove to Modesto (6 hours north) thanksgiving evening with Matt's brother and his wife. We spent all day Friday with the Meyers clan and enjoyed more good food. We all woke up Saturday morning bright and early for family photos with the siblings. Our nephew James was such a good sport!

Matt and I headed back to Los Angeles Saturday mid-morning and slowly made our way down the grapevine. We were greeted with typical terrible LA traffic that reminded us yet again how happy we are that we no longer live there! We stopped by our dear friends (the Griffin family) house on our way into LA. Even though the visit was brief, it was so good to see them all again, we miss that family so much. We then went out with our good friends Anna & Greg for pizza and stayed the night at their beautiful house. Sun morning Matt dropped me off at Juliet's house (my old roommates) and we got coffee and caught up before she took me to LAX. Where I sat for the majority of the day as my plane got delayed hour after hour.... oh the joys of holiday travel. :)

Matt spent a few extra days in LA and was able to visit with his good friend James in Manhattan Beach,

and his old roommate Francis in Pasadena.

He also got to go back to the Griffins house for a famous "Missy Griffin home cooked meal". He loved playing with the girls who are growing up so fast!!

Denver has quickly become home to us however, it was good to reconnect with Matt's family and some of those in LA who were home to us while we lived there!

Ski Season has Arrived!

2007-11-18T19:55:00.000-08:00

Arapahoe Basin - Elevation 12,400 ft.

Last Friday I went to Arapahoe Basin to take advantage of early snow. It was a beautiful drive through the rocky mountains to the base of the ski resort at 10,000 ft. The picture above is from the parking lot "Early Risers", and yes we were there when the lifts opened. Below, I am standing at the top of A-Basin overlooking the Montezuma Bowl with Breckenridge in the background.

Ski Jacket

2007-11-11T19:18:00.000-08:00

I scored at the Colorado Ski expo yesterday!

(The sleeves are ORANGE - not hot pink:)!!)

WASHINGTON PARK

2007-11-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

As we have mentioned in our other postings, we live 2 blocks away from the greatest park in Denver. Wahington Park, Its a mini-central park in the middle of a big city. It is truly my favorite place to escape to. I often go running around it. Today Matt spent the afternoon playing ultimate frisbee with some of our new friends..Its Nov and its about 70 degrees outside....However, Its supposed to snow tomorrow...therefore Matt, I, and all of Denver enjoyed the beautiful day outside!

Hiking in Boulder

2007-11-06T18:53:00.001-08:00

Finally life settled enough to allow me to GET OUTSIDE and enjoy this beautiful place I get to call home.

My new friend Suzanne and I ventered out early Saturday morning. After a 20 minute drive we arrived in Boulder and hikes 6.8 miles to ascend this beautiful "Granger Mountain" peak. My calves are still sore!

GO Avalanche!!

2007-11-06T18:25:00.000-08:00

Now that baseball season is over we have moved onto the AVES!

November is turning out to be a good month so far. We are settling into our new jobs and enjoying the new friends we are making. We are also so greatful for Katelyn and Brett, old friends who live 30 minutes away!! Also, one of my best friends from college, Lynn, was in Colorado Springs visiting her parents this weekend and we were able to drive down and spend the afternoon with her and her family. It was refreshing!! Matt spent the weekend organizing our (his) garage and building shelves for additional storage space. He did such a great job and we are now officially ALL MOVED IN!

Rocktober is almost over!

2007-10-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

After an amazing run the Rockies made it to the world series only to choke!:) But it has been so fun to jump on the bandwagon and be a part of the excitement. As baseball season ends and November quickly approaches, Matt and I look at each other and wonder where the time has gone. We have been here in Denver for two months and already it feels like home. We are settled into the little duplex we are renting and enjoy our jobs more and more everyday. We were sitting on the couch watching football last Sunday and our neighbor knocked on the door with a carrot cake to welcome us to the neighborhood. I did not believe people still did that!:) We miss all of you but look forward to the holidays and all our travels.

It's Snowing

2007-10-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

This morning we woke up to a beautiful white blanket of snow. The morning has been so peaceful. We can't wait to get up to the mountains to kick off ski season. We love Colorado. Go Rockies!

2007 Chicago Marathon...NOT Chicago Fun Run

2007-10-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already heard, the Chicago Marathon was a scorcher this year. It was 88 degrees by 10:00 AM with 86% humidity. The race was diverted at 12:00pm due to a lack of emergency personnel and many people fainting. Anyways, Jessie was a champ and was past the point of the cutoff so she ran 26.2 miles to complete the 30th annual Chicago Marathon. Below, Jessie is sporting her new running outfit.

I am so proud of you babe!

The Rockies are in the Playoffs!

2007-10-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

The Rockies Won!

and we were there!

Morrison Road

2007-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

We discovered a great little street/town just a few miles away where we ate, hiked, and enjoyed getting out of the city for a few hours this afternoon...check out the pictures on the right.

Also...

The Padres LOST
&
The Rockies WON

"The Padres, fresh -- or, more likely, foul -- from two straight losses in Milwaukee, finished in a tie with Colorado for the National League's wild-card playoff berth, and will play the Rockies in Denver on Monday night in only the seventh one-game tiebreaker playoff in major league history!"
....
So, we (along with everyone else in Denver) rushed home and spent an hour to the internet trying to get tickets to the game tomorrow, after I gave up and returned to studying, Matt switched computers to a faster internet connection and scored us two tickets to what could become history in the making!

ROCKIES

2007-09-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

"The Rockies dumped the NL West champion Diamondbacks 11-1 to keep their postseason hopes alive!"

.....And we were there. (Yes, we are now oficially Rockies fans)

Now all they have to do is win tomorrow (and the Padres have to lose) and there may still be a shot for the wildcard!

Manager Clint Hurdle said he welcomes fans jumping on the bandwagon, even this late in the season. ``That's why they got 'em, so you can jump on them from time to time,'' Hurdle said. ...

First Month

2007-09-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG! We have no idea how this whole thing works. However, now that our friends and family span the globe we figured we would give it a try as a means to stay connected and post our pictures. So, 1 week after our 1 year anniversary, we (rather the movers that Matt's new company paid for) packed up our little duplex in Duarte, California and moved us to Denver , Colorado. Pictures from the move and of our temporay housing in downtown Denver are posted in link of the sidebar entitled "move".
As most of you know it has been our dream for a long time to live and settle down in Colorado. So far we really do feel like its a dream come true. Colorado is BEAUTIFUL and those of you who know me well know that I truly appreciate beauty. I often feel like I am driving around in a postcard.:) We bought our ski passes for the winter and are trying desperatly to become Denver Bronco fans. Matt started his job at Lockheed Martin, he is working on the next generation human spacecraft. I still have no idea what my husband, the rocketscientist, does. The good news is that he likes it so far and is working with a great team of guys. I start working in a few days as a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Rocky Mountain Pediatric Surgery Center. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. I have loved having a few weeks off, a novelty I have not experienced in years and truly a blessing as we settle into a new place. I have spent my days finding us a place to live, getting terribly lost all over Denver, running (on a whim 10 months ago, I signed up to run in the chicago marathon (10/7/07), studying for my certification exam, ect...
While living downtown has been great fun. We have walked all over the city, eaten at many good resturants, and gone to Rockies baseball games, where, we learned the beer is more expensive than the tickets:)

We are however, ready to leave the hustle and bustle of downtown and live in a neighborhood with free parking ect..We found a great place to rent for the next year starting October 1. Its a Duplex in the Washington Park area of Denver (about 4 miles from downtown 4 blocks from the biggest park in the city). It was originally built in 1930 and was recently completly renovated.

The hardest part about being in a new place is not knowing anyone. We are lucky in that my cousin and her husband live about 15 minutes away and some of our very best friends just moved about 30 minutes away. We definatly miss everyone we love and left in California. We are commited to staying in touch. Please look us up anytime you are in Colorado and check back here frequently as we will be updating often. WE are daily earning United Arlines Miles on our credit cards so that we can frequently visit!